This is meant to be a sequel to Antoine de Saint-Exupéry's famous story The Little Prince. I own none of these characters except for the aviator's granddaughter, Annie. There are also several mentions of events from Antoine de Saint-Exupéry's novel; these events I don't own either.

Chapter One

It had been several years since the disappearance of the little prince that I again thought about him. It was in the middle of an English Rose Garden while I sat upon a bench with a notebook; on it, a picture of a sheep. I watched as my seven-year-old granddaughter played with her pet rabbit in the grass and thought about the prince.

He was very young, when I had met him. He came from a far away planet, commonly known as B612. His only posessions at the time had been three volcanoes, two active and one dormant all knee-high to the royal, and a rose. He had traveled to the earth in order to see the universe and had come across me, stranded in the desert. He had asked I draw him a sheep. I had drawn him three, the third being a box, which I told him had a sheep inside. He had taken that sketch.

But then, I hadn't seen him since his snakebite. After the incident, I awoke the following morning to find him gone. I wondered what had become of him. Did he make it back to B612? Or had he truly died from the snake's venom?

"Papa." Little Annie placed her hand on my knee and dropped her rabbit on the bench next to me. "What are you drawing?"

I looked down at my little granddaughter. "I am drawing sheep."

"Draw me a sheep, Papa."

And so I did.

She giggled and ridiculed the drawing. "His ears are too big! He looks like a rabbit!"

And so I drew her another one.

"Papa. This isn't a sheep. It's a box."

"Aw, but the sheep is inside the box."

She studied the drawing. Her expression reminded me of the prince's when he had seen the sheep box I had drawn him several years before. She looked mystified and then pleased. She folded the drawing and placed it in her pocket.

"Now draw me a rabbit." She said.

And so I drew her another box. This also she added to her pocket before climbing onto the seat beside her rabbit and me.

"What do you plan on doing with your sheep and your rabbit, Annie?" I asked her gently.

She smiled gaily. "I will give them to the little prince."

Her response surprised me. I had never told anyone about my encounter with the strange little boy and wondered how she knew about him. Children always seemed to know things.

"When will we see him again, Papa?"

"Who, Annie?"

"The little prince."

"You have seen him?"

She nodded her head.

"When? How?"

"In the nursery."

"And what was he doing there?"

"He was asking for you."

"And why was he asking for me?"

"He wanted you to draw a sheep."

"Another sheep?"

"Yes. His has since died and he wants you to draw him a new one to help eat the baobab trees. There are so many and he needs help."

Her explaination caused me to believe that she wasn't just being an imaginative child, but that the prince had indeed visited earth again and that meant he was still alive.

"When will we go see him?"

"We?" I looked to her.

"Yes. I want to bring him the sheep you drew me."

It was then I began to wonder. Was it possible that I could travel all the way to the Prince's planet as he had traveled to mine. I knew the way. For he well taught me the way when he told me the story of his travels. I wracked my old brian to bring up the memories. Yes! It was there! The king, the concieted man, the drunkard, the businessman, the lamplighter, the geographer, and yes, Africa. The African desert. It was all mapped out for me there. All I need do was follow the map backwards and to B612.

"When, Papa. When?" She had pulled the rabbit onto her lap and was now tugging on my sleeve. "When can we go to see the little prince?"

I paused to think. When? I wanted to go now, but I would have to go to Africa. I didn't want to bring Annie along to a desert. "I'll be leaving tomorrow."

"Let me come with you."

"No. Your mother would never let you."

"But, I have the sheep!"

"I'll draw him another one."

Her voice quieted, "But he invited me there."

"There? You mean to his planet?"

"He wanted to show me the volcanoes and his flower."

"You have the same sort of flower here."

"Yes? But I want to see his flower. He says she is very lovely."

I thought for a moment. She really wanted to come. But Africa was dangerous for children. The prince himself had shown me that when that snake had bit him.